Word: french
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...France an increasingly authoritarian society whose police forces are protected from frequent charges of abuse - ranging from racial insult to homicide? That's what Amnesty International maintains in a new report issued Thursday. According to the report, abuse complaints against French police are routinely dismissed, and a tacit immunity allows accused officers to counter-attack the minorities, immigrants, and economically disadvantaged people who constitute the majority of plaintiffs...
...French law officials deny the report's allegations of de facto police immunity, and also protest the characterization of the review process as complicit to the accused. (See pictures of France celebrating Bastille...
...problem is that Amnesty's documentation of the problem is less than complete. Though the dismissal figures of French police officers accused of brutality are remarkably low in relation to the total number of complaints, Amnesty says getting similar data from other countries is just as difficult as in France - making it impossible to compare that French record with other nations. But "even if there were comparative reports, we'd contest the conclusions drawn in this one as woefully incorrect," says Dider...
...Still, Amnesty's allegations of increasingly aggressive French police activity have not arisen in a void. President Nicolas Sarkozy has largely fulfilled election pledges to impose law and order and respect of authorities by encouraging maximalist enforcement. Even prior to his election, Sarkozy introduced a performance-based reward system that promotes police officers based on various on-duty criteria - including arrest rates. (See pictures of Sarkozy...
...arrest and fine quotas for moving violations. That, Auto Plus contends, makes ticketing drivers for bogus offenses almost obligatory for cops who fear their promotion relies on meeting targets. Interior Ministry officials have acknowledged that quota systems exist in some localities, but say they are probably useful in bringing French road violence numbers down further...